CIA director John Brennan, suspected Muslim, voted for the Communist Party

As reported by CNN, during a panel discussion at the conference about diversity in the intelligence community, Brennan was asked about barriers to recruiting diverse candidates for the intelligence fields, including whether past records of activism could hurt someone applying for a clearance later in life.

In response, Brennan recalled being asked a standard question for a top security clearance at his early CIA lie detector test: “Have you ever worked with or for a group that was dedicated to overthrowing the US?”

Brennan told the conference, “I froze. This was back in 1980, and I thought back to a previous election where I voted, and I voted for the Communist Party candidate” — Gus Hall.